As Time Moves On
by Cere
Summary: An exploration of events following "Ocarina of Time." The routes of both good and evil are traced.


**As Time Moves On  
By Cere**

Princess Zelda looked down at Castle Town, burning. The air was torn by the clash of steel and the crackle of flames. Her room in its high tower didn't feel as secure anymore. Even the grounds in front of the castle were filled with castle guards crossing swords with animated skeletons. She shivered as she inhaled a touch of smoke.

Where was Impa? She had followed her orders and come straight to her room, but she didn't know that it would take this long for her to get here. She was debating running off on her own, but she didn't want Impa coming here and searching frantically for her.

It was all that man's fault. She crossed her arms on the windowsill and rested her chin on them. Everything would have been fine if that man hadn't interfered.

She jumped as the door opened and turned around with a smile. "Impa!" she called, but then froze. Standing in the doorway was not her bodyguard, but a red-haired, green-skinned man clad in black armor.

"Wrong, Princess," Ganondorf said and closed the door behind him as he stepped into the room.

Zelda turned around and kept her back to the window. There was no way she could survive a fall from it, but it was the only avenue of escape. "You'll regret doing this," she said, lowering but not removing the waver in her voice. "My father will make sure that you can never step foot safely anywhere ever again."

"I doubt it," he said. "The King is dead."

Zelda gasped and paled. "No."

"That's right," he said, creeping towards her. "I'm the ruler of Hyrule now."

"No, you're not," she said, fighting through her grief. There was no time for it now. "Rightful succession moves to me."

He smiled. "Long live the Queen."

She tried to duck out of his grasp, but he moved too quickly. His fingers wrapped around her throat and lifted. She suddenly found herself locked in Ganondorf's burning gaze. Her hands clawed at his fingers, but they were too powerful to budge.

"They'll fight you," she gasped. "No one will accept your rule. They'll band together and overthrow you."

His grin faded. "I know. That's why I need the power to control them." He brought her closer to his face. "Where are they?"

She struggled to fight the smell of his breath. "Where are what?"

"The keys to the Sacred Realm."

Her mind raced. "How should I know?" she said. "Those items are legend."

"They're not," he growled. "The Spiritual Stone of Forest, the Kokiri's Emerald, is kept by the Kokiri in Kokiri Forest. The Spiritual Stone of Fire, the Goron's Ruby, is kept by the Gorons on Death Mountain. The Spiritual Stone of Water, the Zora's Sapphire, is kept by the Zoras in Zora's Domain. However, those Stones are no longer in their rightful place."

She smiled at him. "Tough luck."

Ganondorf shook his head. "There's also the final piece, the Ocarina of Time, which is held by you. But you don't have that in your possession anymore, do you."

"I had nothing to do with it," she said. "I've been in the castle this whole time."

"Liar!" he shouted, slamming her against the wall. She squeaked out a small scream. "You had the final key. You knew the entire procedure for opening the Sacred Realm. You were also the only one complaining about my presence here. Now the final key is gone, and you're telling me that you had no knowledge about it?!"

She struggled and kicked at his chest, but her blows glanced off his armor. "I'll ask you one more time," Ganondorf said. "Where are the keys to the Sacred Realm?"

"I don't know," Zelda struggled.

"I asked your father the same question," he said, "and he gave the wrong answer."

She gasped, and couldn't keep tears from welling up in her eyes.

"I'll ask one last time. Where are they?"

"I don't know."

"Liar."

"I don't know," Zelda said, shaking in his hand.

"Liar!" he shouted, slamming her up against the wall again. She reached to claw at his face, but he slapped her arms away.

"I don't know!" she choked out. "I swear!"

"How can you not know?" Ganondorf asked. "Those are the keys to the most important object in the world!"

"I don't know where they are now..."

"That's impossible," he growled, tightening his fist. "Unless...you wouldn't be so foolish as to dump them somewhere, toss them in a stream or into a ravine? Where did you dump them?"

"No...I didn't..."

"Then tell me where they are."

She scrabbled at his hands, but it was useless. "I don't know...where he is..."

"He?" Ganondorf's eyes widened and then closed in steely resolve. "Who is 'he'?"

He was interrupted by the door swinging open. "Princess?" a guard called. When he saw her predicament, he drew his sword and charged. Ganondorf swung one hand and the guard's head burst into flames. Behind him, his partner started firing arrows, most of them glancing off his armor but one jabbed into his arm. He dropped Zelda onto the bed and rushed forward, savoring the feeling of the guard's vertebrae snapping under his hand.

"The same will happen to you," he said as he turned around and walked back towards the Princess. At his second step, smoke sprouted up around him, and he felt a sharp pain in his back that pushed him forward. He stumbled out of the smoke and reached behind him, pulling a small dagger out of his back. He turned around and saw the smoke clear, revealing Zelda cowering behind her bodyguard, with more castle guards behind her.

"No more, Ganondorf," Impa said.

He regained his composure. "A Sheikah," he said. "Tell me, how does it feel to be the unknown race, hiding behind the shadow of the Hylians?"

"At least we have a place," she replied. Ganondorf snorted and prepared to fight. "Princess, leave now."

"But-"

Impa barely turned her head to address her, not taking her eyes off Ganondorf. "I will join you later. Right now, it is too dangerous for you here."

"Impa..." she said, but a guard wrapped his arm around her and led her back. "You have to promise that you'll survive!"

She nodded curtly and then turned back to face Ganondorf. They glared at each other, but then Ganondorf relaxed. "There's nothing more to interest me here," he said. He swung his right hand backwards and broke open the window. Impa leapt at him, but he swept his left hand and caused a wall of fire to flare up between them. She gritted her teeth and backed off.

Ganondorf stepped onto the window and whistled. A long slender dragon rose up from the fray below and twisted underneath the window. He smiled and waved at Impa before jumping out the window and onto Volvagia's back. "Ha!" he called, kicked the dragon and causing him to soar out over the battle.

"Burn it all to the ground!" he yelled. Volvagia sent out a burst of flame in reply. "Tear down everything to your heart's content!"

He smiled and bent down over the dragon's horns. He may not have the Triforce yet, but he would have this kingdom.

* * *

The band sat in the center of the open field, encircling the low campfire. The leader split his attention between the meat cooking over the flames and the field around them. The others laughed and joked as the short one finished tying the horses to a stake and sat down to join them.

"I swear," the bearded one finished, "he was soiling himself right there."

The others laughed. "So, what did you do then?" the one-eyed one asked.

"Well," he continued, "I didn't want his clothes anymore." Another chorus of laughs.

"What about you?" the young one asked the man who had just sat down. "What's the worst thing that ever happened to you during a raid?"

"Well," he said, "there was this time when I was between gangs, working solo. I needed to get some money, so I hit up a house in the middle of nowhere. It was an easy job, just a newlywed couple, trying to make their way."

"Sad and pathetic," the one-eyed one said. "You'd think they'd know better."

"He was easy enough to subdue," he said, "and after I had had my fill of their possessions, I decided that it wasn't enough. It had been a while, you know." He grinned, the others chuckling knowingly. "So I tied him to the door, forced her into the bedroom, and then discovered...she was a man."

The gang all gasped with shock. The short one smiled in glee, denying any doubts that were thrown at him. Then, raucous laughter broke out amongst the whole group. "He was begging me not to tell his husband," he continued. "That's the only time a person has begged me to rape them."

"Don't tell me..." the bearded man asked with raised eyebrow.

"Goddesses, no," he said, holding up his hands. "I wasn't that desperate."

More laughter. "So...?"

He shrugged. "I honored his wish. I killed him in the bedroom, and then walked out and killed his husband."

"How noble of you," the one-eyed one commented.

The young one eyed the cooking meat hungrily, and slowly stretched his hand out towards it. The leader reacted quickly, slapping his hand away. He pulled it back and grimaced. "Looks ready to me," he said. "I'm hungry."

"That's why you're not the cook," the leader replied, turning his gaze again to the surrounding grass.

The one-eyed one watched his actions with interest. "What is it?" he asked. "You're looking out there a lot."

"I don't know," he said, "but it looks like there's something moving slowly in the grass."

The others followed his line of sight. It wasn't a full moon, but there was enough light to tell if anyone was walking towards them. "There's no one there," the young one said with finality.

"It's low to the ground," the leader said, "taking cover from the grass."

"A dog?" the one-eyed one suggested.

"Great," the short one said. "Let's eat it."

"No!" the bearded one protested. "No eating dogs!"

"Hush!" the leader said. He thought he saw a glint from the moonlight. "Everybody-"

His orders were broken by a well-known whoosh. The one-eyed one fell backwards with the arrow shaft sticking out of his shoulder. Everyone immediately sprung to action and drew their weapons. The bearded one fired an arrow into the grass where the shot had come from.

"Don't waste your arrows," the leader said. "He's good at moving quietly; he's probably already in a different spot."

After his words, a yellow object flew from a spot to the right from before and hit the young one before retreating back into the night. The young one fell over rigidly, a faint purple hue to his body.

"Follow the boomerang," the leader ordered to the bearded one. He fired a couple arrows, hitting the general area where the boomerang had retreated into the grass. There was another rustle, and a round object tossed out of the grass and landed on the ground before them. They instinctively moved backwards, but the object didn't appear harmful. It looked like a somewhat large nut. Then an arrow came out of the grass and hit it, and their world dissolved in a bright flash.

The leader held his hands up to his eyes, but he couldn't see anything. His vision had become a blank expanse of white. His hearing worked just fine, and he could hear the shocked cries from his group, followed by grunts as they were taken down, one by one. Finally, his arms were wrenched behind his body and a blade was held up to his throat.

"Who are you?" the leader choked out. "What do you want?"

There was no answer, but instead he was turned around to face the campfire. His vision gradually returned, and he was facing his group, holding their minor injuries, but all alive.

There was a tense moment as they watched each other. The bandits looked apprehensive, but there was no way they could make a move on him. Finally, when the attacker was sure that the situation was under his control, he spoke.

"I want my horse back," he said.

The voice was younger than the leader had expected, but then he also realized the implication of his request. They had stolen a group of horses earlier that day, but how had he followed them, without a horse, all this distance?

The blade pressed closer to his throat, and he was brought back to the situation at hand. There was no other option; they had been handily defeated, and it was a mild request in such a situation. The leader nodded, and the young one moved over to the horses and untied them. The attacker whistled a sequence of three repeating notes, and one of the horses trotted over to them.

As the horse stopped right beside them, there was a tense moment as they waited for what the attacker would do next. He let go of the leader's hands and grabbed the horse's reins. "I'd also like it if you let the other horses go, too," he said, and then pulled the blade away, jumped onto his horse, and galloped away.

The leader turned around to catch a glimpse at the attacker as he rode away. He was clad all in green and looked to be in his teenage years. _How had a boy that young bested them so easily?_

The gang watched in shock as the rest of the horses galloped away in various directions. Finally, the young one broke the silence. "Is that a story that we'll tell in the future?"

The others shook their heads.

* * *

Sand tore at the walls of Ganondorf's secret desert hideout. He offered a curse to his homeland as he teleported into the sandstorm surrounding his base of operations. He placed the Dark Flute back into his pocket, wrapped his cape around himself, and walked past the stone doors. Inside, the walls shut out the maelstrom outside.

Two Stalfos standing guard saluted him as he walked by. He eyed one of them, and then moved in a flash. He grabbed the skeleton, thrust him to the ground, and planted an energy blast against its chest. The rib bones shattered, and the remaining bones flew across the room. The other Stalfos watched in silence as Ganondorf stood up from the remains. He took in a couple breaths and then snapped his fingers. The bones gathered back together and rose up in a perfectly reconstructed soldier. It gave him another salute, and Ganondorf nodded and walked on.

His footsteps echoed around the entrance hall. It was unusually quiet. News of their loss must have preceded him. That, or his display with the guard. Not that he was complaining. He appreciated these moments to himself after his losses, though they were growing in number lately.

He growled and clenched his fist. It was just as the Princess had said. The races of Hyrule had gathered together and were fighting his army with everything they had. He was conducting monster-raising rituals twice a week now to keep up. And his Gerudo warriors were growing thinner with each battle. It had become a war of attrition, and he was losing.

He turned his fist over and looked at the back of his hand. It appeared there again, only for a second. He didn't notice when it had begun, but every now and then, the emblem of the Triforce had appeared on the back of his right hand. Short studies of scrolls had confirmed that it designated him as a chosen possessor of the Triforce. He smiled again. This was the sign of his assured victory. His enemies would turn to dust against him.

"Chitaka," he called. "I will take my supper in my study."

There was no response. "Chitaka!" he called again. They knew the price of ignoring his orders. But there was no reply. There was not even the hushed breaths of sympathetic subjects. His poise stiffened. There was no sound at all.

"Would you dare betray me?" he shouted. "I was your god, born to you!" The curved walls of closed doors extending overhead offered no response.

At his back, the hideout's door opened, unbidden. The Stalfos moved to action and were quickly dispatched. Ganondorf turned around slowly to see five armor-clad Hylians enter the large chamber.

"We are the Knights of Hyrule," the leader said. "Your time threatening this land has ceased."

"Don't be so certain," he replied.

Two rushed at him, pulling their swords. Ganondorf braced himself and moved. He grabbed the first one's helmet and made his head burst into flames. Then he pressed his palm against the second one's chest and shattered the armor, sending shards of metal back into the Knight's body. The two Knights collapsed on the ground in pain and the remaining ones shrank back as Ganondorf continued attacking.

He punched the ground, causing a stream of cold to snake across it and wrap around the leader, encasing him in a block of ice. Then he stretched out his fingers and caused bolts of lightning to jump out and connect with the fatter Knight. His target screamed and fell back in pain, but Ganondorf kept the energy coming. He was interrupted when a claw wrapped around his arm and pulled it across his body. A chain led from the claw to a gauntlet around the fourth Knight's arm.

"Andi!" he called, struggling to keep the chain taut and Ganondorf's aim disrupted.

"The demon," the large Knight muttered as he dragged himself to his feet. "I know, I know," he said to his friend. "I'm here, Kri." He picked his weapon up from the ground beside him and swung it.

Ganondorf leaned back as a spiked metal ball several times the size of his head tore in front of his face. "Impressive weapon," he said.

"You can't dodge it forever," he said. He pulled back the chain and swung it again. Ganondorf ducked and grabbed the chain as it flew by. The force dragged him several yards, but his hand remained locked onto the steel. A simple bolt of electricity through the chain knocked the Knight off his feet.

"Like I said," Ganondorf said, picking the chain up and twirling it around, "it's very impressive."

He broke the cyclical motion and sent the spiked ball straight at Kri. Kri released the claw's hold on Ganondorf's arm and retracted it, falling backwards from the force of pulling. The ball sailed over his head as he hit the ground, reaimed the Clawshot at Ganondorf's leg, and pulled. Ganondorf fell backwards and his armor cracked against the ground.

Kri struggled to his feet and retracted the Clawshot chain. Ganondorf skidded along the ground as he was pulled towards him. Kri pulled a dagger from his belt, but paused as he saw that Ganondorf was curling up to greet him, a blast of energy forming in his hand. It was too late to stop the Clawshot. Ganondorf planted his feet and launched towards Kri.

He suddenly stopped and fell forwards. He looked over and saw the Knight with the caved-in chest plate grabbing his ankle. Kri regained his composure and thrust at Ganondorf.

"You're all tiresome," he said. He punched his fist against the ground, the shockwaves sending the two Knights tumbling. Two energy blasts finished them off.

The leader finally broke out of the ice and looked upon the scene with horror. "You monster," he uttered.

"Really," Ganondorf said as he flipped his cape aside and walked towards him. "Is this all you brought against me?"

The leader drew his sword and charged. Ganondorf deflected the blow with his arm, a disturbing shiver running through his armor, and punched the leader in the face. He stumbled backwards, regained his composure, and swung again. Ganondorf stepped back, shook his head, brought up the energy ball he had been forming in his hand, and shot it straight at the Knight's chest. He tried to block it with his sword, but the ball shattered and spread painful energy up his arms and into his body. He was lifted off his feet and landed on his back.

"I told you you were nothing," Ganondorf said. The Knight groaned, pressed his hands against the floor, and pushed himself back up. "You really want to keep doing this?"

Ganondorf dodged his next strikes, but the tip of his sword skidded off his armor. He aimed an energy blast down at the ground, but the Knight jumped sideways and swung his swords upwards. Ganondorf barely missed the strike by twisting backwards. The Knight was better than he had expected. He gathered energy in his fist and punched the ground. The Knight was lifted up and then caught in tendrils of electricity from his hand. Ganondorf smirked and flipped his hand, tossing the Knight across the room. He heard a satisfying clatter as the Knight crashed into a wall and slid into the floor.

_Now,_ he thought, _to face the problem at hand. What to do about my treacherous race?_

He heard quick clanking sounds behind him. He turned around and was surprised to see the Knight running towards him with full force. He fired an energy blast out of reflex, and the Knight shot straight to the floor, but then picked himself back up and charged again. His sword clanged against his armor as Ganondorf blocked it and then swung his arm, flicking the sword away. The Knight kept close and punched, catching Ganondorf directly in the face. His head reeled from the force of metal colliding with it, and he barely felt the blows that followed it.

Finally, instinct kicked back in and he shoved the Knight away from him. He spit out some blood and shot an energy blast directly at the Knight's chest. Energy arced around his body, but he didn't fall. Ganondorf pulled up his other hand and summoned fire around the Knight's body. Even then, encased in flames, the Knight kept walking.

"Impossible," he muttered. He reared back and punched the Knight's chest, sending him tumbling along the ground and putting out the flames. He lay on the ground for a moment, and then pushed himself back up. "Impossible!" Ganondorf rushed over, shoved him back to the ground, and started pounding on face with his fists. Every blow seemed to glance off before inflicting real harm.

The Knight chuckled as the King of Evil flailed over him. "It won't work," he said. "I'm completely invulnerable."

Ganondorf paused from his assault to regain his senses. "Magic armor," he said. "I'd read of it, but I never knew that the Hylians had finally created it." The corner of his mouth drew out in a wicked sneer. "No matter."

He placed the palms of his hands against the Knight's chest and sent electricity surging through him. He ignored the Knight's cries and kept shocking him. "Magic armor protects you from taking any physical damage," Ganondorf said, "but you still feel the sensation of pain." He gritted his teeth and increased the energy. "Also, even a magic armor cannot maintain its protection forever. It is sustained by something, be it blood, rupees, or whatever you can tie to it. Eventually, it will fail you."

The Knight kept screaming in agony, and finally smoke started rising from under his armor. Ganondorf released the energy for a moment, taking a few breaths. "Really," he said, "how did you expect to win? Defense alone never wins battles."

"It...doesn't have to..." the Knight choked out. "Just had to...delay you...."

_A diversion?_ Suddenly, Ganondorf felt as if the breath had been drawn out of the room. He looked up and turned around to see six ethereal figures stationed around the room. In position, they raised their hands and pointed at him.

"The Sages?" he muttered. Then, golden chains broke out of the ground and wrapped around his limbs. He struggled as they dragged him off of the Knight, brought his arms behind his back, and locked into place. Gradually, his struggles lessened as he felt the strength leaving him. It was as though all the power in his body was being channeled into those golden chains. Finally, he rested softly against the ground and blacked out.

The Sages silently swept towards their captive, ensuring that he was vanquished. The Knight coughed and dragged himself to his feet. A quick look confirmed that he was the only Knight still alive.

"The monster," he said, followed by a fit of coughing.

"Don't worry," one of the Sages said. "He will no longer trouble this country."

"I'll see to that," he said, limping over to his sword and picking it up.

"Sir..." a Sage said.

"He killed my comrades," the Knight said, dragging the sword along the ground as he walked towards Ganondorf.

A Sage floated into his way and rested a hand before his face. "His fate is for the Queen to judge." The sword trembled in his hand, but he finally let it fall to the floor.

"Do not worry," another Sage added. "She will not judge him lightly."

* * *

It was morning, and the fairies were dancing. Shafts of light pierced through the leaves, curtaining the interweaving motion of the winged lights. They bobbed and sailed through the spring breeze. One person watched their interplay, keeping his eyes on one in particular.

"Navi," he called.

The other fairies scattered, but the one he had been watching was still there, frozen in the air. "Navi," he called again, softer this time, "it's me."

Her countenance trembled. _Don't turn around,_ she thought. _If you do, you'll be trapped again. Right now, you're free. If you just keep looking away, you'll be free..._

Slowly, the ball of blue light rotated. Link was standing there at the clearing's edge, dressed in his traditional green outfit. She sighed. He looked just as he had those years ago, when he had defeated the greatest evil of Hyrule. It was almost as if nothing had changed.

Link stepped forward, but Navi floated backwards. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I came to find you," he said.

She shook her head. "Why?"

He took another tentative step forward, but she kept her distance. "Well," he said, "I needed to get away from Hyrule, so I decided to use that time to find you."

"Away from Hyrule?" Navi asked. "But we defeated Ganondorf."

"In the future," Link said, "but when Zelda sent us back to my childhood, Ganondorf still existed."

"We came back inside the Temple. The door was opened!"

"For our convenience. It shut after I left, and I took the keys with me." He pulled the three Spiritual Stones and the Ocarina of Time out of his tunic to show her. "Ganondorf will never get into the Sacred Realm now."

"But..." She struggled to find words. "But what about your friends? How could you leave them?" _For me?_

He shook his head, his smile fading. "The only friends I had then were the Kokiri, and I couldn't stay with them anymore knowing that I would grow up and leave them behind. All the other people I met were after those seven years. You were the only one I still had who was with me for that ordeal."

Link tried inching closer again, but she backed up a third time. "Navi," he implored, "please stay and talk with me."

"I...I have to go, Link," she said, trembling away from him. His expression tightened, and she saw a glint in his hand. She moved first, but he moved after her and was quicker. She felt the air taken away as the glass swept around her and the cork stopper plugged in behind her.

"No. No!" she shouted, banging against the sides of the bottle. "You can't do this to me!"

"I'm sorry," Link said, falling to a sitting position, "but I had to keep you from running away again."

"Let me out this instant!"

"Why? You'll just run away again." He wiped his hand over his mouth. "Why do you keep running away?"

She settled down, her wings still shuddering, and rested on the bottom of the bottle. "Link...it's nothing against you, I promise. I just don't want to be trapped with you."

"What do you mean? We can work things out if we just..."

"That's not it," she interrupted. She took a few breaths to calm herself, and then she told the truth. "Link, I love you."

Link looked dazed. "Navi..."

"It's not quite what you think," she hastily said. "A fairy's love is different from yours. It means...if a fairy loves someone, then she will give her life to keep him from dying."

Softer this time, "Navi..."

"I didn't mean to at first," she said, looking at a patch of grass while talking. "I just wanted to help you succeed, but then...as time went on, I realized that I was too attached to you. When we were fighting Ganondorf, I didn't mind, because I would gladly have done anything to save Hyrule. However, once he was defeated, I found that the feeling didn't go away, and..."

Link watched in awe as the fairy shook, wracked by what looked like fairy tears. "I'm so sorry, Link," she stammered out. "I panicked. I'd never felt like that before, and I didn't want to think of dying. So I left...and tried not to look back..."

She settled down, her back facing him. "There," she said, "you have your answer. If you want to drag me along in this bottle, then I can't object. You can do whatever with me you will. I brought this upon myself."

Link sat in silence, and then moved his hand to the stopper. "It was very hard," he said, "going back. My life as an adult was interrupted, and all the friends I made had forgotten me. There was only you." He opened the bottle. "You were the only one left who was a true companion. It broke my heart when you left."

She slowly rose out of the bottle and rested her body against Link's cheek. "I'm sorry," he said.

"I'm sorry, too," Navi replied.

"You know, I could never ask you to do that for me."

"That's the beauty of it. You don't have to."

* * *

The world was muddled in fog and darkness. With the golden chains on his arms, all energy was drawn out of his body. One day flowed into the next with little difference. His trial passed by in a flash, though he wasn't sure if that was his dulled perception or reality. Every attempt at serious thought was abandoned mid-effort. For the first time in his life, he had no ambition.

This day seemed little different from the rest, except for the faintest feeling of sand scraping against his skin. It felt like home, and it mustered a small amount of interest. He could feel the presence of the six Sages around him, watching him with despite. Other than that, there was nothing else around, only death and destruction. He truly was home.

He was drifting back into darkness when a pain shot through his stomach. It felt like a stab of cold lightning through his body, and it stayed there. However, instead of slipping off into stillness, he found that the wound awoke something in him. It felt like a fire was spreading outward from the wound, reawakening the feeling in his body. It reached his head and he looked outward with full cognition.

He was in the desert, and the Sages were the only ones there, the only audience for his execution. A glowing white sword was sticking through his stomach, causing a curious white wound. But instead of being his bane, it was reawakened his purpose. The Triforce mark on his hand glowed with ferocity, and he clenched his fist. The chains on his wrists just felt like iron now, and iron he could deal with.

He pulled against the chains, straining with all his might. The right one snapped, and he relished the sensation of freedom. He focused the rest of his strength on the left one, and it too gave way. He turned his straining to forward momentum and headed for the closest Sage. There was no physical body to harm, but he could feel a small thread of energy holding the form together. He snapped this thread, and the Sage's form dissolved.

The Sages cowered as he stood there, relishing his victory. Of course they couldn't stop him; he had the power of fate on his side. He grabbed the handle of the annoying sword and pulled it out of himself. With this sword, which they had intended to kill him with, he would wipe them all out, and then none could stop him.

However, something soon changed. Though he couldn't see anything there, it felt like something was tugging at his body. Also, the Sages were no longer looking at him, but over his shoulder. He glanced behind to see glowing concentric circles on the slab he had been chained to. The circles mesmerized him, but he fought against it. He tried to take a couple steps forward, but the force on his body was growing stronger.

No, there was no way this could happen. He had just released himself. He gritted his teeth and growled through them. Hyrule was his to take, and nothing would stop him! He gave one last howl, and the world shattered around him.

And then, darkness.


End file.
